I am sworn to carry your burdens
by garbagescourger
Summary: the adventures of the Dragonborn through the eyes of a certain housecarl. Dawnguard incuded.
1. Chapter 1

_So, this is my first fanfic. My bestfriend said i needed a hobby aside from video games. So here i am, writing stories... about videogames. I'm still not that good and i need some more practice, hopefully my writing skills would develop writing some fics. So any comments, suggestions and corrections are welcome :) and please enjoy :D_

_i havent played Skyrim for a while so, i sorta made up some lines, but not to the point that's insignificant to the story._

_this was originally a one shot fic, but turns out i gave in a lot of ideas so, at least it would be a three shot. or quadro-shot. lol_

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Strong and standing tall, with his long blonde locks slightly exposed in his hooded helm, dangles messily on the sides of his face. His steel plate armor lightly glimmered to the fire, despite the dusts and scratches showing years of experience that housed the once pristine steel. I remember he used to carry a dwarven battle axe, that he once told me he found on an old Dwemer ruin. He fought two Dwarven spheres and a Centourion just to get that hunk of a metal. He seemed proud of himself wielding such a prize. His Nord features are strong, dabbed with blue face paint on the left side and light unshaven hair almost covered his entire jaw. I never thought in all my years would I be face to face with the Dragonborn. I heard stories and legends of the great dragon slayer that where once tales for young nord children, and that day as I stood at the halls of Dragonbridge I couldn't believe I would meet such legend.

"Honor to you my Thane." I gestured a slight bow in respect to the person that I swore to protect with all my life. "The Jarl has appointed me to be your houscarl..."

"Ah! You must be Lydia" he said. " Hah it's nice to finally meet you! " I was surprised by the way he greeted me with such joy and delight. I would've expected differently from a strong Nord man, not to mention a member of the Companions, a hero of the civil war that lead the Stormcloaks to victory, and the soon to be savior of Skyrim from the world eater. I wouldn't consider him to be professional when it comes to formality, but something about his outgoing, sometimes naïve but righteous personality always gets everybody.

"Um...yes it's nice to meet you too." He held out a grin, like a child having sweet taffy from his mother.

"I hope you have strong legs, we have to go to Iverstead and climb the 7000 steps and meet with the Graybeards. It appears that they'r thrilled to meet the Dragonborn which i'll have to admit, is making me kinda nervous, and excited. "

"I will follow you wherever you may wish to go, my Thane."

He held a soft chuckle "Hah, you know you don't have to be all too formal. I may be a thane but i'm not that boring. And besides, were shield siblings from now on, sworn to protect and help those who are in need while enjoying a bottle of Honningbrew mead." He patted me at the back and held out another of his gregarious smile as he walked out of the huge gates. I couldn't help but smile behind him as we walked down the stairs of Dragonbridge.

As the Thane in 7 different holds, he would do anything in his power to help ALL people in Skyrim. Arrogant as he may be, I never once saw him turned his back on a person in need, may it be a pesky old beggar or a mighty jarl, he would be willing to delve into a fort guarded by bandits, a bear infested cave, or even transport to another dimension and talk a daedric lord out to return to his longing servant, just to put a smile on that person's face. He is no mere adventurer, nor a greedy mercenary, a fool maybe but a fool with a righteous heart. There are times where he just cannot save everybody, no matter how hard he tried. While we were travelling to Shor's Stone, we observed some sort of rabble from a distance. As soon as we heard screams he ran towards the small town but was too late as the vampires drained the life out of those poor people. Enraged he held out his Dwarven battle axe and cut the creature in to two. There were 3 of them, plus 2 thralls and a demon dog. I aided him but before I could slice one of the thralls he landed his axe behind the poor sap. Breathing heavily, he went into the bodies of the once occupants of the town, dropping his knees to the ground. I heard him whisper a prayer and put his Amulet of Arkay in the pocket of a small body. A little girl, eyes opened with fear, drained the life out of her. I held his shoulder as he held a palm over the young girl's eyes.

"we should have gotten here sooner…" he said, sadness filled his voice.

"we didn't know..." i replied, trying my best to be good at empathy as I can.

"I swear I will make this right. I will avenge their cruel, meaningless deaths."

Those were one of the rarest times I ever saw him so serious and cold. And usually he does that when he's on a personal debate on which color of undergarments will he wear.

"hey, where are you going?" I said as he stood up and walked off.

"we don't have time to sit around. We're going to Fort Dawnguard. Now."

It was nothing that I've ever seen. A huge tower hovering the hills was what I saw from the view in Riften, but as we got inside the small cave, it was like staring at a giant's castle. It was a spectacular sight, Fort Dawnguard. Men and women fully armored guarding it's main towers. Everyone was busy, doing their own business.

"You look like you've killed a lot of vampires.." the young lad tried to reopen the once ignored conversation. The boy asked if he wanted to walked with us, was too afraid to go by himself and talk to this Isran fellow.

"I just did yesterday." The Dragonborn replied to the now impressed lad.

"Whoa, really? Did you got them good?" The same sorrow and determination at Shor's Stone occupied the older Nord's face.

"Not good enough. But I swear to the gods and my ancestors that I'll wipe those bastards clean off the face of the Nirn. I'll burn them in a pile with their corrupt blood in my hands to cleanse this world from evil and fear, even if I die trying" Now the once talkative boy was silenced throughout the walk. As we approached the enormous doors slowly swung open revealing the far-reaching interiors. Two men were conversing in the middle while we idly wait. The Redguard gestured the Dragonborn to come. "And you, what is your business here?"

"I'm here to help you take care of these vampires." The Redguard, Isran, eyed the Dragonborn from head to toe, impressed by his standing.

"Very well, Tolan, tell him about this…Dimhollow crypt."

"Yes we believe that the vampires are keeping something valuable in there, and it is wise if we should get a hold of it first before they do."

"And what is this artifact that they are holding in" the dragonborn asked

"We don't know, but whatever it is, it will be of great advantage to them. We must prevent them from acquiring it."

"Fair enough."

"Good. Then I'll meet you there."

We went inside the cave entrance. After clearing out the blood sucking creatures we saw the now dead vigilant Tolan drained of blood. The Dragonborn tightened his grip on his axe as he looked down at the body. "Bastards…" I held his arm to ease of his steam.

"Hey, let's go." he looked into my eyes, as if my touch has calmed down this ranging bear. He held out a soft smile and we moved on.

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_End of chapter 1. :)_


	2. Chapter 2

One thing about the Dragonborn, for the years that I've known him, is he always knew his limits. Well, sometimes, or at least occasionally, that is when he's sober for the most part. But when he's swimming in mead, that's where things get out of hand. When I went to the Silver-blood inn in Markarth after I came back from the apothecary, a body flew just a few inches next to me as I entered the door. The body held a loud thud as it smacked to the wall and fell to the ground. Oddly enough the man was laughing as he stood up and ran back to the crowd. About two other men were in the middle of what seemed to be a brawl. Bottles flying everywhere, tables turned and the laughter and cheering of the crowd filled the stony room. Another man went flying from the room, wrecking the table as he landed there. The crowd cheered again as the drunk and energetic Dragonborn stood up on top of the shop counter, the innkeeper getting out of his way.

"HAHAHA, nobody…PUTS DOWN ..the *hic* DRAGONBORN!" he proudly declares while holding two bottles of mead in both hands and engulfed them both, the sweet liquid ran from his mouth to his bare chest.

"Oh no…not again." the crowd cheered and before he could let out another cry, a man pounced up to him and they both fell on the ground letting out an even louder thud.

The innkeeper, Kleppr, handed me a list of damaged properties after the chaos that night. Since he was a Thane, and contributed a huge help in the forsworn dilemma and the extraction of daedra in Markarth, the least the inkeeper could do is to make an exception in some wreckage namely the broom that drunk broke while being bashed by it. I went back to Vindrell hall to check on the still wasted Nord. I wiped some sweat and dried blood from his face, applying some compress on his bruises. As I got up, he held my hand and looked up to me, eyes almost half closed from the purple swelling.

"Thanks." He said as he stretched his busted lip to a smile.

"You owe me more that thanks.." I countered "Hehehe, I know, don't i? You've done so much for me, more than a houscarl and a friend could give. I'm glad your with me." This was one of those post drunk moments where he get so dramatic and calm. Usually I would've been angry to the bones with him after what he did, but somehow I couldn't stay mad at him. He could've not done the same if I was in that brawl, not that I would ever be, hell he would even make me breakfast in bed the next morning. A person like the Dragonborn is someone who is not undesirable no matter how worst the situation is. And he's the kind of person who would feel the same way for someone, specially for the ones he cared for the most.

"I don't know how to repay you for all you've done.."

"Well, how about 8050 gold for the battered inn. We cant leave until we paid Kleppr in full." I held out a smile as the cold room filled it with his warm laughter.

"Were screwed."

You never get lonelywith a man like him around. Walking on a dark lonesome road at night with only a torch as his guide while singing Ragnar the Red in full broad voice. You'd get annoyed the first time but if you traveled with him long enough, you'd get the hang of it then before you even realize you'd be singing along with him like an idiot. One time the noise got the attention of several bandits but he continued to sing as we knocked them out one by one, ending the battle with a falsetto finale. I laughed so hard i almost tripped on one of the bodies. He could be a pain in the ass when getting into trouble, but is worth it when you have him as company.

We went deeper into the cave not far from where we were standing. we heard two people talking. We crept into the shadows and just below from where we were we saw a vampire stabbed a Vigilant of Stendar, just before we could stop him. "Wait!" I called out to the Dragonborn as he dashed down the stairs towards the master vampire. I took my bow and started shooting at the thralls, a minute later the vampire's head rolled down the floor.

"I guess were too late again.." he sheathes his axe behind him. "no, they haven't got to what they were coming for." I pointed towards a pedestal in the middle of a circular balcony. The Dragonborn went close and out of curiousity rests his palm on the pedestal. A scream of pain escaped his mouth as the blade pierced entirely through his palm. I ran towards him making sure he was alright.

"yeah..it's nothing." Then suddenly purple lights emerged from the cracks on the ground. It was a curious sight as the waves of light danced through the openings. "what…the.." I mumble as I slowly backed away, not noticing the pedestal behind as I leaned back to it. It moved through the cracks and stopped at some point until another wave of light travelled to another direction. "I think we have to get these pedestals in position." I suggested and as we applied them in the right order, the ground suddenly trembles. A chunk of rectangular stone emerged from the middle. We examined the stone and the Dragonborn's touch suddenly triggered some sort of door. To our surprise a woman, was inside it. She fell to the ground from exhaustion while we backed away slowly.

"I could've sworn that woman was dead." The Dragonborn exclaimed while pointing to her in surprise.

"What…ugh…"she gently gets up, gathering her strength while she rubs her head. We were shocked and speechless that moment. Who would've locked a woman inside a stone coffin? Was she the "artifact" that Tolan was referring to.

"Who…Who are you?" the mysterious woman asked with a curious, and somewhat hostile look on her face.

"Who were you expecting?" the Dragonborn replied with a mutual look.

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_End of Chapter 2_


End file.
